“The second quarter ends in less than two weeks. When it does, I expect Apple will have over $70 billion in Cash, Cash Equivalents, Short-term marketable securities and long-term Marketable Securities,” Horace Dediu reports for asymco.
“Given the current valuations, it would not be difficult for Apple to acquire every phone vendor except for Samsung with cash alone,” Dediu reports. “The more remarkable thing is that as market values of phone vendors continue to decline, Apple’s cash will continue to grow dramatically. Indeed, a time may soon come when Apple’s cash will be worth more than the entire phone industry.”
More in the full article, including values of mobile phone companies, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
These are the “good old days.”
HTC would be best choice; Samsung is too much; authorities may not allow that kind of purchase.
Forget hardware vendors, let’s talk about networks. it’s going to happen. just watch.
Not necessary wireless networks; cabled ones are good, too.
Jobs was asked about revolutionising TV since at least 2005. He always answered that Comcast and the likes are the biggest obstacle. So maybe he will buy Comcast to make Apple’s version of TV. But this is “just maybe” thing.
Apple already had $81 billion at the end of last quarter. In two weeks they should have closer to $90 billion.
Apple had $65 billion last quarter. This quarter will add another $6+ billion to about $71 billion.
So if you are talented and stick a lot of love into and make few compromises with your work, you can be extremely successful . . . huh, good to know.
Apple could actually buy either France Telecom (owners of Orange), Deutsche Telekom (owners of T-Mobile in most of the world) or the whole of Vivendi (giving it SFR [French mobile network], Canal+ [a sort of French Comcast], UMG and Activision).
It could even buy around 70% of Telefonica or 50% of Vodafone.
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Or just pay off my house for me with money under Apple’s couch cushion.
You don’t need phone companies when the world switches to high speed WIFI access along the lines of Clear or others but with faster data rates. Obama should have spent money building a national high speed wireless internet grid – put those phone companies out of business.
I have been saying for a year now that Apple should buy Sprint/Clearwire, owners of Clear WiMax services, holding wireless spectrum licenses that could reach 70% of the people on earth. That’s a route around Comcast and all the others, making even fiber obsolete. Apple could then provide stream wirelessly from its data centers to Apple TVs everywhere. Buh-bye Comcast!
I think, the reformed SJ’s way would be to make the current state obsolete and start a new playing field with distinct Apple advantage.
Why take on Windows, when you can start a PostPC era? Particularly when it was really Apple’s own legacy that was infringed upon and stolen.
Why take on all the gaming platforms (Xbox to DS-3), when you can casually replace them all in sweep with a multipurpose (it’s a phone, an iPod, an internet communicator, are you getting this?) supported by multi-idevice trotting multi touch platform?
Why take on Google and their Ad supported “free” giveaways, when you can just make browser centric search obsolete? Knowing and competing with you on this front, Android is forced to offer a half-hearted approach in Android store, and still hoping/pushing/nudging towards a browser centric universe with “web apps” and Chrome, the glorified browser, stuck in a 90’s lock-in webTV.
Seriously, why would Apple bother to buy any of these competing and regulated obsolete business models, when they can work on their castle in the Cloud, where all iDevices can simply talk to each other anywhere in the world without bothering to know the technicalities behind it?
Nice Post! I agree with what you say.
krquet, you nail it. Apple’s history is littered with rumours and recommendations to buy everything and everyone, and none of them would have made any sense. Apple’s acquisitions have always been small and strategic… if they ever make a major purchase it will be spectacular to see. No kneejerk, hilarious joke-buys like Ballmer’s Skype tragedy.
Apple won’t even tinker with it…the key to their success is saying NO to alot of potentially good ideas and sticking to what they are best at…reinventing the whole foundation.
Leave it to M$ to continue to buy people and their ideas to continue to fail at reinventing themselves. Saying NO is the answer.
Horace isn’t making a serious suggestion that Apple buy anyone, he’s just musing about the numbers. In the same sort of way that when people suggest a stack of something could reach into space, they aren’t actually recommending anyone do so.
Remember this is hard earned cash by hard working people. Not that automatic revenue stream from some of the other dolts in the industry.
Forget hardware, they should buy all of these patent trolls that are hurting innovation.
Why would they want to scrape the low margin scum off the bottom of the pond?
Horace likes to point out these things when everyone else is proclaiming that “Android is winning!”